The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987 --- Review

There have been many top 100
books before, but rarely one like this. Here are the best of the early video
games, shown in over 400 color photos and described in incredible detail in the
entertaining and informative text. Each game’s entry features production
history, critical commentary, quotes from industry professionals, gameplay
details, comparisons to other games, and more. This book celebrates the very
best of the interactive entertainment industry’s games from this highly
crucial, fondly remembered decade. This pivotal period was marked by the
introduction of the indispensable Atari 2600, Odyssey2, and Intellivision, the
unleashing of the underrated Vectrex, the mind-blowing debut of the next-gen
ColecoVision and Atari 5200, plus the rebirth of the industry through
Nintendo’s legendary juggernaut, the NES. Whether you’re young or old, new to
the hobby or a hardcore collector, this book will introduce you to or remind
you of some of the greatest, most historically important games ever made.

This is a masterwork of scholarship in a field we’re only beginning to
recognize the need for. While on the surface it looks like many other X best
Y’s and while the average gamer might have her own list of ten or even twenty,
Brett Weiss has thrown down a gauntlet with the kind of intertextual support
typically unseen outside of Oxford University Press or more recent Tolkien
ephemera.

These probably actually are the one hundred greatest console games of
the period. Not your favorites, not the
most popular, but objectively. The burden of proof is now on everyone else who
might disagree. They’ll need ten citations
and a cross system comparison in addition to personal testimonials just to
begin that debate, though.

I’m sure I excluded some
cartridges that many gamers – including you, constant reader – hold in
particularly high regard, and for that I don’t apologize.

Rather, I hope my perceived
oversight makes your blood boil (or at least simmer), forcing you to fire up
the respective classic console, plug in that old favorite that I neglected to
include, and extol the virtues of that game to anyone who will listen online or
in person.

It’s bold, but aside from forgetting a title you might be especially
nostalgic about, you needn’t worry. No matter what you loved, more than one of
your favorites will be in here.

The years covered include the Second Generation, The Great Video Game
Crash, and the beginning of the Third Generation. The selection is omnivorous,
with games for the Arcadia 2001, Astrocade, Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 7800,
ColecoVision, Intellivision, NES, Odyssey2, Sega Master System, and Vectrex. If
any of that isn’t familiar, it will be by the time you finish the book.

Each entry includes original box art, publication data, and one or more
of the following: screenshots, cartridge photos, instruction manual art, box
back, and ad copy. In addition to
descriptions of the games, entries are heavily sourced with reviews from
contemporary publications and current enthusiasts. None of this is just Brett Weiss’s opinion.
You’ll also learn about how to play the games, or variants, on modern systems.
And the entries end with an interesting fact about the game and a one sentence
“WHY IT MADE THE LIST.”

The selections are system specific.
If a game was demonstrably better on the Intellevision than the Atari
version, Weiss explains why.

Some of the games are ubiquitous. Combat, sold with the Atari 2600
(VCS) made the list. Others are so obscure only serious retro gamers have even
heard of them. “Most Gamers who have actually played Bounty Bob Strikes Back
love it.”

Some stand out for other reasons. Centipede was the first shooter to
appeal to women and a recognized and remembered classic even on the 2600, which
is noted here but justly not included in the praise for the 5200, ColecoVision,
and 7800 ports.

The original was programmed by Dona Bailey in 1980. Check out what happened and note how little
has changed in more than three decades.

“When asked if things changed once she programmed Centipede, Bailey
said, “yes,” but not necessarily for the better. “There was a lot of surly
attention after that…people just started, you know…the typical kind of thing
people would say was, either it was a fluke or I didn’t really do it, somebody
else did it.”

Since the book is well researched and clearly referenced, I was able to
find the original interview. Bailey’s experience was both disappointing and
unsurprising.

Yes, but I’m not sure it was for
the better! There was a lot of surly attention after that. It’s not always
popular to do something [like] that — the first thing that happened, I was not
ready for at all, and I still haven’t figured out how to deal with this part —
people just started, y’know… the typical kind of thing that people would say
was, either it was a fluke or I didn’t really do it, somebody else did it. I’m
a very peaceful person, and I felt sick of fighting, so I really just
disappeared, and I haven’t had contact with the industry for at least twenty
years.

Sounds disturbingly familiar. The Gamergate movement is apparently
upholding a tradition in its fourth decade when it attacks game developers like
Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu.

A few entries made me want to expand my collection. Shark! Shark! for
the Intellivision is all about fish who eat fish. Brett Weiss loves it because it was an early
example of power leveling your avatar and killing sharks. It’s another game
programmed by a woman, this time Ji-Wen Tsao. Its initial print run was 5600
copies versus supported titles that released 800,000.

Some of them are true loves, possibly in despite the consensus rather
than because. Rambo: First Blood Part II
for the Sega Master System is lovingly described even as its criticisms are
fairly presented. Weiss wants to spread the word so much he includes the cheat
codes for the game, without which it’s unbeatable.

My favorite console game of the era, Warlords [note by Brett Weiss—the
book lists games alphabetically, not in order of greatness], finally appeared
at number 96 [author's note, the book lists games in alphabetical, not in order
of greatness], with “some of the best party-style, four-player gaming ever
created, regardless of the era”.
Something of a hybrid between Pong and Breakout, it was the first game
whose coin-op version derived from the console game rather than vice versa. And
it was programmed by a woman, Carla Meninsky. Her first game,Dodge’Em, also
appears in the book.

With a foreword from Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day, an appendix of
one hundred honorable mentions with brief descriptions, a bibliography
(including websites), and a title based index, this book is indispensable for
collectors, enthusiasts, and researchers.

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Book Excerpts

About Me

A freelance writer, I'm the author of the Classic Home Video Games series, The 100 Greatest Console Video Games: 1977-1987, Encyclopedia of KISS, and other books. I've had articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Filmfax, Fangoria, AntiqueWeek, The Writer, Mystery Scene, and more.
Contact me at brettw105 AT sbcglobal.net.